Does Employment Empower Women?

In this event, we discuss the relationship between women’s work in the formal economy and their empowerment.

A common assumption is that employment is an important step to empower women. The status and income that employment entails may increase women’s bargaining power at home and in society.

Experiences from export led industrialization in Asia demonstrate that the relationship between jobs and gender equality is more complex than that. Low wages, harsh working conditions, and deprivation of the right to organize reduce industrial jobs’ empowering potential.

Drawing on these experiences, we will explore the impact of women’s entrance into the expanding labour intensive manufacturing and horticultural industries in Ethiopia, one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

We will look at the impact of such jobs on various aspects of women’s wellbeing and equality between genders – women’s health, fertility/marriage decisions, domestic violence, and political participation.

Open program

09.45-10.00: Introduction by
Lovise Aalen (CMI)

10.00-11.15: Keynote; “Empowerment or Exploitation? : Experiences of women workers in export oriented industries in the Global South”. Presenter; Prof.


Ruth Pearson

, POLIS, University of Leeds

11.15-12.15: “Occupational hazards in flower farms in Ethiopia – empowerment of women or loss of their lives?” Presenter:
Bente Elisabeth Moen (UiB)

12.15-13.00: “Women in the developmental state: Industrial jobs, empowerment and political participation”. Presenter:
Lovise Aalen (CMI)

13.00-14.00: Lunch in CMI cantina; all welcome.

14.00-15.00: “The relationship between resources and domestic violence: An overview”. Presenter:
Andreas Kotsadam (Frisch Centre)

15.00-16.00: “Lessons learned from health research in flower farms in Ethiopia”. Presenter:
Wakgari Deressa (AAU) and
Bente Elisabeth Moen (UiB)

16.00-16.30: Closing remarks by
Espen Villanger (CMI)

Welcome!